Senegalese Football Federation bashes AFCON title stripping

The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) has criticized the “unfair, unprecedented, and unacceptable decision” to strip its team of the Africa Cup of Nations title and award it to host nation Morocco two months after they contested the final.

The Confederation of African Football’s appeals board on Tuesday ruled Senegal “forfeited the final” by walking off the field and turned its 1-0 win in extra time into a 3-0 default win for Morocco.

The FSF said the decision “discredits African football,” and that it will appeal “as soon as possible” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, a process that would typically take a year to deliver a verdict.

“The FSF reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values of integrity and sporting justice and will keep the public informed of developments in this matter,” the federation said in a statement.

The CAF cited article 82 of tournament regulations for its marquee event to justify the verdict enforced on appeal, though not at the first hearing.

It states “if, for any reason whatsoever, a team withdraws from the competition or does not report for a match, or refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorization of the referee, it shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition.”